Jackson, 1964: And Other Dispatches from Fifty Years of Reporting on Race in America

by Calvin Trillin (Introduction), Robert Fass (Narrator)

Running Time => 8hrs. and 25mins.

©2016 Calvin Trillin (P)2016 Random House Audio

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Essays, Politics, African American, Social Justice

Audible Audio

First published June 28, 2016

About the author

Calvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written much serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction.

Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.

Reviews

[J Beckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written historical narrative. Investigative, revealing, and informative, particularly for those who enjoy the overlooked elements of African-American and race-influenced history. Jackson, 1964 is a literary treasure that needs to be revealed.

[JA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this as a Good Reads giveaway.

I had somewhat high expectations of what I was going to encounter in this book.  I am not familiar with the author’s work, but a quick google search had me intrigued.  I recently read “Remembering Jim Crow” and C Vann Woodward’s “Strange Career of Jim Crow”.  Both were eye opening – the first giving first-hand accounts from the victims of segregation, and the second an outstanding history of the “new” south and the civil rights movement from a southern historian’s perspective using facts and logic rather than opinion and speculation.  I had hopes of “Jackson, 1964” being a mix of both of those books, but from a reporter’s perspective.

After reading it, I found all of the essays to be informative, but I wasn’t moved emotionally nor was my perspective/knowledge of the civil rights movement and race relations greatly changed like it was from the above mentioned books and others like Gladwell’s “Blink”.  One essay that did grab my attention was the last covering the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. The tactics and reports of this state funded program were sometimes comical and more often terrifying.

Overall this is a good read and the author's passion for covering these wide range of events is very evident throughout. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review it... 3.5 stars.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been unfamiliar with Calvin Trillin's work before picking up this book of pieces on racial issues in America, but I'm really thankful I did because I will be reading more of his work.

The pieces and articles are a compilation of Trillin's work on race that he has accumulated over his long journalism career from the Civil Rights Movement to the present. I was initially skeptical about picking up this book because Trillin is white, and oftentimes books about race written by white authors are shrouded in problems and privilege. I'm pleasantly surprised that this was not the case as far as my own white privileged eyes can tell.

Trillin's journalism is incredibly thorough reporting. It's obvious from his writing that he did lots of in-depth research to develop his pieces. The quality of his reporting is solid factually and analytically. Moreover, despite taking an objective stance on the issues presented in these pieces, his writing exudes empathy both for the victims of racism and the perpetrators, yet he never took the stance that the perpetrators presented here had a right to commit the racist actions they did. It's a rare honest look at the times and probably the closest you can get to being a fly on the wall for many of the events and happenings that have defined our current racial dynamics in this country. I also appreciate that he kept the language used at the time he wrote the pieces, now considered offensive, as it gives an honest look at what it was like to live in an atmosphere.

The pieces also span a large array of events and issues that have been lost in the greater picture of things but are important nonetheless. I found the piece on Mormonism, Brigham Young University, and racism to be particularly eye-opening since I had never heard of the protests there. I also enjoyed the pieces on housing development in Newark, tidbits about Martin Luther King, Jr., and a look at some of the institutions like the Dallas city government that have been willing participants in systemic racism for a long time.

The piece that I will keep with me for what will no doubt be a very long time is an article written about a young black man who was pulled over by a cop in Seattle in 1975 under suspicion of participating in a robbery the man had not committed, yet he was shot and killed. The language used by Trillin to describe white fear of black men and our unconscious bias is cutting and true. His willingness to uncover the bias behind police shootings like this by exposing the excuses and rumors about suspicions of criminal activity as a coverup for accounting for the police officer's racial bias hits very close to home I felt that the names and places could be replaced in this piece and reprinted the next time, god forbid, another incident of police brutality occurs against a black man or woman.

I highly recommend this collection of journalism to anyone interested in history, social justice, activism, and racial issues that are currently embedded in our culture.

[Chris Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blacks have been subjugated
in every aspect of American life
right.
This is a selective study on racial inequality
First Nations, first victims, first reparations
not the use of politically correct
"Native Americans," any American
born in the states is "native," i.e.,
native to the land. AMERICAN INDIAN
this dusthead Trillin hates
on Indians through exclusion
where is Russell Means
where is the American Indian Movement
where is Wounded Knee, 1973?
where is Leonard Peltier?
where are the dirt poor reservations?

It took one-quarter of the U.S. Army
to capture Geronimo
and all of his seventy braves.

Where is the black community's Geronimo?
instead off rolling over, instead of buying
into peaceful "resistance," rise up and take
what's yours, what you earned, because the white
man will be the same two-hundred years from now.

Chris Roberts Like You

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not let his charming style distract you from his incisive reporting from the frontlines and back alleys of the struggle for racial justice. He is a really good listener, even to those he clearly disagrees with and has a sly sense of humor. Some things have improved in the last fifty years, while others..,

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sublime Calvin Trillin basically kills 'em with kindness and good humor, and a swift stiletto that generally skewers 'em on their own words. He's the closest thing we have had to a modern Mark Twain: Morally on point, but with just the right clever verbiage -- although probably less caustic than Twain -- that keeps even the heaviest of numbers lighter than they probably have a right to be.

The first essay -- Jackson, 1964 -- screams 2016. SCREAMS it. It covers the strained circumstances of the enhanced expectations of black Americans due largely to recent civil rights legislation, which made the status quo increasingly hard to take.

Trillin quotes people saying "your methods are causing more harm than good." And, since change was underway, "these people need to show more respect and goodwill."

That's what MY neighbors in suburban Seattle are saying about BLM in 2016. Essentially: There's a black president, what the hell else do you want? It's not as big a problem as you're making it out to be.

White cop kills black man. Yeah, yeah, and dog bites man. Yes, it's about Jackson, New Orleans, Newark, Alabama, South Carolina ... But it's also about Oshkosh, and Provo, and Seattle, and Boston... This is America from 1964 to 1995, but it all rings too familiar in 2016.

This is very good, very timely collection, with a quality of writing that made it strangely fun and depressing at the same time.

For me, the most telling line of how the more things change, the more they stay the same, is a quote from NCAAP official Clarence Mitchell in a 1977 piece about the Senate confirmation hearings of "moderate" Griffin Bell as attorney general: "Every time you say that this is something that happened a long time ago, it convinces me that your assessment of this set of circumstances is different from mine."

Black Lives Mattered, indeed, in 1977, too. That was 23 years after Brown v. Board, and 39 years ago.

See what I mean about depressing?

From voting rights to real estate deals, to police action, to national guard patrols ... This collection from the New Yorker (with enlightening epilogues for each) show how real journalism can and should be done more often.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a timely and important collection of New Yorker essays by one of their best writers, all on the explosive subject of race. Although titled Jackson, 1964, it includes "dispatches" from other parts of the country that have not until recently been considered hotbeds of racism, and since they cover a 50 year span, it is frustrating that there is not more progress. The power of the book lies in having these together in one volume, each essay followed by an update by Trillin. With the Black Lives Matter explosion and heart wrenching videos of abuse resulting often in death, this is important reading. Most who are only familiar with Trillin's dry wit and his humorous pieces on every subject from food to parking in New York, and his extraordinary tribute to his lovely wife Alice, will be gratified by his approach to a subject he obviously has followed for 50 years.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am continually learning how little I learned in school about the terrorism and intimidation that occurred in retaliation for any modicum of progress in the civil rights movement. There is more to read but this book is horrifying, and at least for me, feels essential.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Sue Whitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

collection of Trillin's columns on race from 60's to 90's. After each article, he posts an update.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. I'm a moron. I bought the book without reading what I was buying. It's long-form articles that Calvin Trillin wrote for the NEW YORKER over the years, focusing on race relations. I get why he'd title it JACKSON 1964. Despite the fact that there's only one article about Jackson, and the rest travel the map to San Francisco to Salt Lake City to Washington DC to New Orleans and New York City and beyond...that's not gonna sell books. Gotta name-check Mississippi. Got it. It took me almost a full year to read the book. The articles are interesting...in a way...but old hat...obviously. It's fifty years worth of writing. I learned very little and skimmed too much. He's not as witty or charming as he wants to be. I would have much rather read a book about Jackson in 1964.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate to receive this book for free in a giveaway. Jackson, 1964 is a collection of articles Calvin Trillin wrote for the New Yorker from 1964-1995 that all have race in America as part of their theme.

This book is potent and powerful and these articles are as pertinent today as they were when they were written, touching on topics like unjust prison sentencing, profiling, voting rights and desegregating public education (oh, and not just in the naughty South). The settings of the articles are dotted all over our country. And, at the end of each article, Trillin updates us on what has happened since the article was published so we hear firsthand how far we've improved (or, in too many cases, not improved and sometimes fallen farther back).

There's a lot of upsetting revelations in this book that lay into how deep and insidious our country's racial prejudice goes. But, the last chapter, State Secrets, is particularly unsettling/eye-opening. It details the efforts of The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a state-funded organization that was established in 1956 and wasn't completely abolished until 1977. There were some clever "proper governmental" (my words, not Trillin's) why this organization needed to exist, but their sole goal was to maintain segregation in subtle and overt ways. They had inspectors check the fingernails of babies of single white mothers (based on a crackpot belief that you could check someone's halfmoon cuticles to find out if they were mixed race). Of course, Mississippi is notorious for its fight against desegregation. But, how deep it went in society and high up it went in their state government was something of a secret. And that was on purpose. When the mid-70s rolled around and the state was realizing that the time of The Mississippi Soverignty Commission was coming to a close whether they liked it or not, government officials voted to have the records destroyed. One can argue why they believed destroying the records to be necessary, but when an organization has tampered with jobs, education, livelihoods and even lives (they kept track of the license plate numbers of civil rights workers, including those of the slain Michael Scherner, Andrew Goldman and James Chaney), there's no real credible argument that exists to prove that their desire to destroy these records wasn't an attempt to wipe their names clear of the rampant bigotry in their state. A court blocked the destruction of the records, saying that the records were a matter of historical reference and documentation. But, the court put a seal on them. That's where the last article in the book starts. When the seal was removed and the public could look at them. This bit struck me pretty hard:

"In 1965, for instance, Governor (Paul) Johnson received a letter, written in longhand, from a couple in Biloxi. "Dear Governor Johnson," it began. "We regret to say that for the first time in our lives we need your help very badly. We are native Mississipians and are presently living in Biloxi. Our only daughter is a freshman at the Univeristy of Southern Miss. She has never before caused us any worry. However, she is in love with a Biloxi boy who looks and is said to be part Negro..."

"Your recent letter and situation fills me with great apprehension," the Governor wrote back at once. "I am having this matter investigated to the fullest." Tom Scarbrough had already been dispatched to the Gulf Coast to investigate the lineage of the suitor - presumably under orders to exercise a level of discretion that would have made a close inspection of fingernails out of the question. In a three-thousand-word report, Scarbrough concluded that the young man was from a group of people in Vancleave, Mississippi, who were sometimes called "red-bones" or "Vancleave Indians"- people who had always gone to white schools and churches but had always been suspected by their neighbors of being part black. The possibility of arranging to have the suitor drafted - a solution hinted at in the letter from his girlfriend's distraught parents - was looked into and dropped when it became apparent that he was too young for the draft. I couldn't find any indication in the McCain Library files that the Sovereignty Commission was able to break up the romance, but in what other state in what other period of American history could parents of no great influence write to the Governor about a suitor they considered inappropriate and have the Governor get right on the case?"

That's the history of racial prejudice in Mississippi and, since Mississippi's a state in our country (and since this book displays that prejudice doesn't stop north of the Mason Dixon Line), that's the history of racial prejudice in America. It's as subtle as a mis-guided belief that half moon cuticles could tell you if someone was mixed race and as overt as the Governor of the state of Mississippi looking into getting a 17 year old person of color drafted into the military to keep him from dating a white girl in 1965.

Even if things have changed and we feel things are "better," it's important to remember that this is where we're coming from. 1965 isn't that long ago and, as this book shows, we've got a long way to go.

[Ilana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit like reading old New Yorkers, because that is what it is, but very jarring how much the same themes exist.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in a Giveaway through Goodreads. This is my review:

In 1964 Calvin Trillin went to Mississippi and began writing a history of racism in the United States. He probably didn’t think of it that way then, but since 1964 he has written a number of pieces or essays that depict various aspects of racism, or the intense focus on race, in assorted places and lives throughout the US. Now, in 2016, eight years after the election of the country’s first black President, in our supposedly post-racial society, some of these articles have been brought together in a collection titled after that first article: Jackson, 1964. And what a powerful and telling collection it is.
The essays are primarily from the 1960s and 1970s with only one each from other decades and they describe events in all areas of the country, beginning and ending with Mississippi. There is a chronological progression of incidents and stories illustrating how race is considered in our US society as we believe ourselves to be progressing to the post-racial society of the election in 2008. The title piece depicts a time in Mississippi and in the country that many of us have read about or seen depicted in movies. This was the time of violence and bloodshed in the name of segregation and restrictive voting. In this piece, Trillin approaches the story of the men and women who were attempting to educate the then called Negroes to their rights as well as to help lift them from their crushing poverty if even for a while. This was the time that Freedom Riders were attacked and some were killed. Interestingly, there is an essay from 2008 (The Color of Blood) that is the story of a black man shooting a white teenager who was, he felt, threatening his family. Then the last essay (State Secrects) moves back to 1995 in Mississippi and efforts to have files of the State Sovereignty Commission released to the public. In the times between these pieces we read about the Zulus (a black crewe who parade the day before Mardi Gras parades), a woman who spends thousands to have her birthday certificate changed from “colored” to “white” because she had “always lived white” (Victoria DeLee—In Her Own Words), the use of courts in Texas to “put away” men who were considered dangerous to the status quo (Not Super-Outrageous) and others that hone in on the multitude of ways race and racism is looked at and acted upon as the country progresses toward 2008 and the current state of affairs. At the end of each piece there is a brief update regarding the subject of the piece, illustrating just how successful, or not, their particular efforts have been.
I loved the writing and the clarity of the reporting. Although Trillin’s sympathies are not completely hidden in the pieces, he writes them as a journalist and does not make them into opinion pieces. He lets the facts of each situation stand for itself and be interpreted by the reader; he does not interpret them for us as we have grown to expect from so many journalistic sources. This is an important book. It gives the reader of sense of just how far we have or have not come since Jackson, 1964.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Context is crucial in understanding the import of historical events, and nowhere is this more obvious than in Calvin Trillin's collection of longform essays collected from his career in journalism. The essays are presented exactly as they appeared in their original form, which provides much-needed insight into the events being discussed. Many of the events were familiar to me (such as the Selma march and the Freedom rides) but I had to research many of the other events.

In "Causes and Circumstances", Trillin writes about the shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer. In 1975. The story was all too familiar. The officer claimed that it was self-defense, that the man had a knife. The physical evidence contradicted him. He escaped prosecution or punishment of any kind. Sound familiar? Damn right it does. I was surprised by the year in which this occurred, though I shouldn't have been, as young black men have been getting murdered by people in a position of power throughout the entire history of our country. We only think it's a modern phenomenon because we are at a point in our existence where we have easy access to stories from other parts of the country and the technology to make those news items instantly go viral. In 1975, most of the country would have considered this happening an isolated incident, though it was probably much more common than they knew.

In "The Color of Blood", Trillin relates the story of a black man who goes on trial for murder after shooting a young white man who he believed was threatening his son's life. The young man and three or four of his friends had driven to the defendant's home in the middle of the night, after having called the man's son and issued threats of violence, and were carrying various types of non-lethal weapons. There was an argument in which racial slurs were used. The young men refused to leave even after being made aware that the man had a gun, and the man felt that his life and his son's life were in danger. This incident happened in 2008, so it's much more recent, but the significance is in the outcome and how it shows that things have really not changed that much since the Civil Rights Movement. It also begs the question - would the outcome have been the same if the race of the parties had been reversed?

Some of these essays are just okay but most of them present an interesting view of the history of race relations since the Civil Rights Movement as they were happening. It's a fascinating read and Trillin is a master of the written word. It's worth a read for anyone interested in the history of Civil Rights Movement, in seeking to gain an understanding of how we got where we are, or in seeing how much (or little) has changed since 1964.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Robert S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep hearing about white people who say they've been working behind the scenes. Yes sir, it must be getting mighty crowded back there, behind the scenes."
- Black Lawyer in New Orleans, 1960

"Well I'd liked to be loved by everyone, but we can't always wait for love."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1964

Calvin Trillin's collection of essays from fifty years of reporting on race in America is an example of first-rate journalism, something that is often lost in today's clickbait environment for views. Trillin's essays go to Jackson, Mississippi to look at attempts to provide African Americans the ability to vote, New Orleans to examine an unconventional party tradition, a city of siege, a group of students expelled for arguably expressing their rights, discrimination in housing, discrimation in schooling, discrepancy in sentencing, opposition to low income housing, and more. In other words, although the majority of Trillin's essays cover the 1960's and 1970's, the issues he deals with are mostly as relevant today as when he was writing about them.

Trillin's prose allows the reader to get to understand the subjects mentioned on all sides and covering the events within the piece with a particular eye. His ability to get to the heart of the story is one of the most important tenets of journalism.

My only real issues with this collection of essays is the inclusion of some more weaker pieces in the latter half of the book, and a lack of more diversity in pieces from the 1990's - 2000's.

Jackson, 1964 is a valuable addition to the numerous pieces of literature on race in America and definitely a worthwhile read.

4/5 Stars

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-1/2* I'm reviewing the audio book. This was an interesting progression of race in America from 1964 onward. What the book does without any effort, is show how many things in America have not changed at all, or changed at a snail's pace. It's like a punch in the face. We still face the same issues. It's an excellent look at average (white) Americans' psyche through time and also how even the African American community looked at race (ie members of the Zulu Club didn't find their club offensive at all). The chapters are all articles he's written on, ranging from unfair sentencing in the legal system to the disbanding of the Zulu Club (a carnival like parade in New Orleans of African Americans that paraded in black face). He writes about the conversation MLK had on a plane with a young white college student, in which King said "I'd like to be loved by everyone, but sometimes we can't wait for love." There are many great chapters to read. He ends each chapter with a present day update. The foreward was narrated by Trillin and his voice while monotone, was very soothing and lovely to listen to. The narrator of the book, not so much. His voice was fine, but he read all the parts the same (ie, MLK sounded like a rich, old southern white guy). It was disconcerting. I'm guessing the print version would have been 4* for me.

[Arthur Goldgaber · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a title of Jackson, 1964, I thought the book would focus mainly on the events surrounding the civil rights battles in the South before President Johnson was able to sign the Civil Rights Act into law in 1965. But this book includes articles that Trillin wrote over a 44-year-period, 1964-2008 about many aspects of race relations--crime, integration in public schools and voting rights. These stories are well written and transport the reader behind the scenes. With his thorough reporting and interviewing, Trillin takes you beyond the surface reporting that a newspaper article provides to a much more in-depth look at the stories that he tells, such as a controversial parade of black people in black face at Mardi Gra to a black man in Long Island who shot a white young man who came to his house to harass his son.

His updates on the stories are very good. It's depressing, but some of the stories have not been resolved to this day. For example, a story from 1975 in the book, "Causes and Circumstances" was depressing to read because it was about an innocent Black man who was shot dead by a policeman during a routine traffic stop, demonstrating that this has been a problem for a long time; it didn't just start in the past few years. Overall, this is a worthwhile read to understand the dynamics of race relations in the U.S. without any sugarcoating.

[Rob S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jackson, 1964 offers a wide-ranging view of Race in America across America over the last fifty years. Trillin's style of writing can be a bit off-putting for some, but his perspective over the years is a fresh one. This collection of articles is important because it brings back into the spotlight some issues have been lost over the years or a reminder of just how far we've come as a country in some ways but also just how far we have to go.

Trillin's examination of race in America doesn't start and end in your typical areas of discussion (Alabama, the titled Jackson, Louisiana) but in other areas that may make the "white moderate" uncomfortable by looking at what was done in areas like Boston, Seattle, Delaware, Colorado and elsewhere. Many of our history books have done a disservice to those who came before us but also those who will learn from it by making it seem like civil rights was something between North and South with only pockets of the North having issues (Boston and busing comes to mind).

This collection of articles offers up a great deal to those who are reading about these subjects for the first time, or even those just looking for a refresher on topics they once read about and perhaps experienced.

[Steven Hull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calvin Trillin has been a writer for the New Yorker magazine since 1963. I read one of his recent articles in that magazine about Donald Trump. It was humorous, sarcastic and truthful commentary on one of the oddest characters in contemporary American political history. In Jackson, 1964 we relive a half-century of racism in America through Trillin’s eyes. We also experience Trillin’s development as an honest, truthful, and sarcastic observer of this dark side of our history that remains with us.

I will not be discussing the chapter by chapter vignettes in Jackson, 1964 other than say that the reader is taken on a journey through obscure or unknown incidents that reflect racism in America during the last 50 years. These stories begin during the upheaval and violence of the 1960 civil rights struggle. Why are these stories important? Because they feature mostly unknown heroes, heroines, and villains. Each fights for what they believe in. It is clear who represents the American promise for all and who is fighting to preserve an anachronistic and cruel past and present. What we find is that racism in America remains alive and well.

Trillin is an entertaining writer, but deadly serious about the topics and people he covers. Jackson, 1964 is worthwhile read.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been a fan of Trillin's writing for a long time, and having already read several of the pieces in this collection, I mostly picked up this book for old time's sake. I'm very glad I did. Taken together, these articles about race in America show the progress we've made, and have failed to make, in one reporter's lifetime. Each story is evocative of it's own time and place, but there are many inescapable similarities to current events. One story in particular, about a man shot by police in Seattle in 1975, is a heartbreaking parallel to the killing of Michael Brown. I found these echoes to be depressing reminders of how little has changed in our country since the civil rights era, but also strangely reassuring testaments to a long and continuing struggle.

The pieces are presented in chronological order with the exception of the last one, called "State Secrets," about the public release of documents from Mississippi's State Sovereignty Commission. I had assumed that this was because the author wanted to end on a hopeful note, and "State Secrets" is certainly more light-hearted than some of the other chapters. I imagine that when it was first published it read as a funny-if-poignant look back at a distant past. But at the end of this book, read today, it's just devastating.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jackson, 1964 is a collection of essays from the last 50 years covering on race in the United States. The essays range from well written to really brilliant pieces of work. The coverage that Trillin chose is complete and works well beginning to end. After each essay, he has given us an update on the subject.

This is a superior collection. But it cannot be read - for me at least - without thinking that in the last 50 years, there is not enough that has changed here. I could almost imagine the same writings in today's magazines; this weighs the whole project down with ... the truth. Of course this may have been part of the point of gathering the articles; to show us how little progress has been made.

Very smart collection. The writing is fantastic and the overview of the last 50 years so important.

[Wiebke Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of essay, starting in Mississippi in 1964, stretching to 2008 and over various parts of the country, and ending in Mississippi in 1995, are important if you (and you should be ) are interested in the story of race in this country. Portraying the quiet but pervasive racism in Mississippi in contrast to the loud and violent racism in Alabama, discussing complex business issues that are covered and distorted through the lens of racism in New Orleans and New Jersey, exploring deaths on both sides as symptoms of racism in Seattle and Long Island makes this a must- read. And then you get to the ridiculous racism of checking newborns, of breaking up romances, of birth certificate revisions, and to all those moderate white folks "who say they have been working behind the scenes...it must be getting mighty crowded back there, behind the scenes" (192).

[Aria Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and informative look at racial issues throughout different places and times in America. Reading through this collection of articles in 2016 it's simultaneously striking both how far we've come and how little some things have changed. Each chapter includes an update from 2016 that can help to bring either one of those things into even greater focus.

If I had any complaint with this book it would be that (apart from the chapter in the voice of Victoria Delee, a clear highlight) the book is written in a somewhat dry, journalist way. This makes perfect sense given that's exactly how these were originally published, but reading through the whole book in a short amount of time, this dry style makes the material start losing its steam. For that reason I'd probably recommend reading only a chapter in a sitting.

[Neal Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of vignettes from spanning the country from the 1960's until late 1990's early 2000's. Trillin highlights a number of unique individuals, events, and issues that did not receive the attention other contemporaries were given. In many of his articles/dispatches, one is introduced to unknown champions of civil rights, systems in areas of the country often recognized as inclusive and accepting, and new perspectives into the reality of racial struggles and racial memory.

This is a book that is important to ground folks in the understanding of how pervasive these problems are across the country and how they persist in different manners into today's discourse. There are a number of articles in this collection that I certainly will return to.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very glad I read it. These essays are easy and uncomfortable reading. Trillin’s reporting is clear and accessible and fair. It is also troubling and challenging. There is much in here that reveals truths about human nature and human community. It is interesting to meditate on both government and individual choice as one considers the situations he finds himself in the midst of - whether protests, or fights about a birth certificate’s race notation, or the killing of a young man on Long Island. This is very good reporting and a very timely release considering current conversations in the US.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first piece in this collection (the title piece) is long and it took me a while to get involved in it, but I'm glad I stuck with it. This collection offers some fascinating perspectives on race relations and some very intimate tales which, unless you read them in the New Yorker, you probably never heard before. Some disheartening, some jaw-dropping, and some even a bit humorous. This is an important read to help us understand that the struggle for equality has continued unabated for all these years. Some of the more obvious, public bits of discrimination have been dealt with, but the undercurrent is still strong.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of long form essays on racial issues written for The New Yorker, mostly in the 1960s. They are a reminder of how recently overt racism has been not only socially acceptable, but de rigeur in a lot of places. Trillin is able to write with enough objectivity that the reader is hearing everyone in his or her own voice, but not so much as to be morally bankrupt. Some pieces definitely sound historic--Griffin Bell's massaging of his segregationist activities in Georgia during Senate confirmation hearings in 1977--but others are disturbingly resonant, particularly police killing of an unarmed black male in Seattle in 1975.

[Ross Mckinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calvin Trillin is a wonderful writer, but most of this book is more prosaic than his best writing. It's a series of essays he's published over the years, mostly in the New Yorker, regarding race and race relations. "Remembrance of Moderates Past" is Trillin at his best, with a sly wink sweetening the message. On the other hand, essays like "The Color of Blood" are extremely insightful, and while written in the moment have a sense of perspective that's worth paying attention to. It's a good collection, worth reading, although not as transformative as books like Isabel Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns."

[Dghitelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little gem of a book collects a bunch of articles about Civil Rights-related issues written over the last 50 years for The New Yorker by Calvin Trillin and give heathy doses of both his dry, sardonic wit and the passion for justice that often underlies it. The pieces concern, alas, the sort of news that stays news: unpunished police shootings of unarmed black men, insensitive efforts at diversity by institutions of higher education, the appointment of a U.S. Attorney General with solidly segregationist credentials. In this last case it's Jimmy Carter's appointment of Griffin Bell. Plus ca change. . .